


The Real Boys

by InfinityUndone



Series: The Human Experience [1]
Category: No Straight Roads (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Humor, Confusion, Cyborg Becomes Fully Human Again, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Humor, Mystery, Robots Become Human, i dont know what else to tag for this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:54:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28929099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InfinityUndone/pseuds/InfinityUndone
Summary: Metal replaced with flesh. Wires replaced with veins. Circuitry replaced with organs. Processors replaced with brain matter.When 1010 woke up, they had no idea how to deal with their new forms.And Neon J had no idea how it happened.
Relationships: 1010 & Neon J. (No Straight Roads)
Series: The Human Experience [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2121741
Comments: 23
Kudos: 121





	1. My Flesh And Blood

**Author's Note:**

> Well guys, I'm doing it. I'm writing a new series.   
> I honestly don't know where this idea popped up from in my head. It started out as "Hey wouldn't it be funny if 1010 became humans and didn't know how to do human stuff?" But then along the way it turned angsty. So here we are.  
> I hope you all enjoy!

To say the day started like any other would be a lie. Neon J knew something was off as soon as he woke up and saw the time.

_“9:30?! Why didn’t my internal alarm go off?”_ he wondered in annoyance. This would throw off his whole schedule. 

Pulling himself out of bed, he began to realize that something wasn’t right. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he just felt… odd. Like something was different from yesterday. Maybe he’d figure it out once he woke up all the way.

Yawning, Neon J pulled on his robe and headed to the bathroom, still trying to decide what exactly wasn’t right this morning. It wasn’t until his hand was on the doorknob that he noticed.

_“My hand is purple.”_ The realization took a few seconds to run through his sleep-addled head. _“WAIT, WHAT?!”_

Now very awake, with a pounding heart, he stared at his hands. The mechanical prosthetics he’d had for decades were gone, gleaming light-gray metal replaced with worn dark-purple flesh. Instead of intricate wires and circuitry, the faint outlines of veins and bones were visible under the skin. His fingernails were broad and ragged and had signs of dirt under them. It was like he’d never lost his hands in the first place.

All Neon J could think was _“What the fuck what the fuck am I dreaming? Am I hallucinating? Am I losing my mind? WHAT THE FUCK?!”_

Flinging the bathroom door open, he ran to the mirror with bated breath. Staring back at him was a face he hadn’t seen in years.

It was unmistakably his old face, lost to warfare all those years ago. It was different though, his dark-purple skin reflected his older age with wrinkles. Battlescars he’d sustained long ago and since forgotten about stretched across it. His white hair was slightly thinner, but it hung down past his shoulders, longer than he’d ever kept it in his life. Faint stubble was growing on his jawline. His green eyes were the only thing completely unchanged, staring out at him with expressions of complete shock and confusion.

Running his fingers across his face and through his hair, Neon J slowly came to the conclusion that this was real, this was happening, this wasn’t some crazy dream he was having, he was really, truly, inexplicably, back to his old self. 

So he did the only logical thing that someone in his situation could do. He screamed hysterically.

* * *

Across the mansion, White woke up like a shot when he heard Neon J’s screaming. Jumping out of bed, he sprinted down the hall to the source.

“Dad! What’s wrong?!” White yelled, skidding to a stop in the bathroom doorway.

When Neon J looked to his left, he thought for a moment he’d been wrong and he truly had gone insane. Because standing there was what appeared to be a younger version of himself. Same fluffy white hair, same shade of dark purple skin, same face that he’d had as a teenager. But no… the eyes were gray instead of green. 

“Who are you?!” The person who looked like him yelped.

Neon J realized who exactly was standing in front of him. “White?!” he exclaimed in shock.

White recognized that voice even without the synthesized effect. “DAD?!” 

They stared at each other for a moment before talking at once.

“What happened to you?!”

“How are you a human?!”

“Wait, I’m a _what_?” White’s eyes widened as he saw his own new form. “How did this happen?! What’s going on?!” 

“I-I don’t know! I woke up like this!” 

Their panic was interrupted by hysterical voices from the hall. 

“OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD, WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“HOLY SHIT, WE’RE HUMANS!”

“WH-WHAT’S HAPPENING?!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAHH!”

Neon J and White sprinted to the hall, and it was there the rest of 1010 were. And it appeared they were in the same situation.

Their shiny metal bodies had been replaced with flesh and bone. They didn’t resemble Neon J to quite the same extent as White, having the same hair and eye colors as their names, and interestingly, different shades of purple for skin tones. White, the oldest, had the darkest shade, and it descended from there, with Blue, Red, and Yellow all having lighter tones from the one before them, and Green, the youngest, having the lightest shade of purple. Understandably, they were all freaking out over their new bodies.

“Dad! White! Is that you guys?!” Blue exclaimed.

“Dad, what the hell is going on?!” Red demanded, his aggressive tone not hiding the fear and anxiety in his voice.

“I have real hair… and eyes… and skin…” Yellow was rambling hysterically.

“What is this? What is this?!” Green whimpered.

“Calm down, troops!” Neon J ordered, despite the fact that he felt like either throwing up or screaming hysterically, or both. 

They managed to get their panic under control.

“Dad, what happened to us? Why are we humans? And why do you have limbs and a head again?” It was the most terrified he’d ever seen Blue.

“I don’t know.”

“How did this happen?” Green whispered, fearful tears in the corners of his eyes.

“I… I don’t know.”

There was silence for a moment before White asked “What are we gonna do now?”

And Neon J didn’t know.


	2. Static And Pizza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questions continue and there's no answers in sight. Neon J hasn't even been awake for two hours and he already wishes he could go back to bed. 1010 discover the wonderful world of food.

1010 sat on the couch, silently watching Neon J pace around in a circle, like he’d been doing for almost two hours now. It was pretty disconcerting to see how freaked out his expression was. In fact, just seeing him emoting at all was weird, because he’d had an expressionless radar monitor for a face since before they were born.

“Dad?” Green finally broke the silence.

Neon J didn’t stop pacing. “Yes?”

“What are you thinking about?”

The answer was a lot of things. Thoughts just kept running through Neon J’s head. 

He was wondering how this had happened. Why this had happened. What the scientific explanation for all this could possibly be. How 1010 could possibly get used to human bodies. How he could possibly get used to a fully human body again. What exactly would change as a result of this. How they would explain this to everyone. What would happen next.

He also hadn’t completely discounted the idea that he’d gone insane and was imagining everything.

Neon J didn’t answer Green’s question and just continued wearing a groove in the floor.

“Hey, watch this.” Yellow said quietly, drawing Blue and White’s attention. He proceeded to full-on slap himself in the face.

“OW! GOD, THAT HURT!” Yellow yelled.

Neon J snapped out of his reverie. “What did you expect, soldier?!”

“But it hurt! I’ve never actually felt real pain before!” Yellow had an excited smile.

“Geez, not even a full day as a human and you’ve become a masochist.” Blue muttered.

“ENOUGH!” 1010 startled at Neon J’s shout. 

He sighed. “No, I shouldn’t yell. I’m sorry, troops. Just… stressed.”

“It’s fine, Dad.” White said reassuringly. “But… what are we gonna do?”

“Honestly? I have no idea how to deal with this in the short term, let alone the long term.” Neon J resumed pacing, though not at the obsessive clip he’d done earlier. “We have all, through some unknown event, become human. That’s at the top of my list of worries, _how_ exactly that happened. Because I have never heard of anything like this ever happening before.”

“Were the security cams on last night?” Blue asked.

“Yes, but I don’t have them in any of our rooms.”

“But I went into sleep mode in the library last night. Whatever happened would’ve been caught on camera in there.”

Neon J stared at him. “Really?”

He stood still for a few seconds, before remembering he was no longer a cyborg and couldn’t check the recordings with his internal systems. Cursing internally, he headed off to Barraca Mansions security room, with 1010 following behind.

Inside, Neon J searched through the recordings, until he found the one. “Blue, what time did you go to sleep?”

“I don’t remember exactly. Sometime around midnight.”

Neon J sped up the recording. There were a couple hours of Blue, still a robot, reading in the library, and then he got up and lay down on the couch at 12:37 AM. After that, there were a few minutes of him sleeping…

And then the screen abruptly burst into static, making them all jump.

“What the…” Neon J sped up the footage again. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the static left, and the image of the screen was still Blue sleeping on the couch, but now in his human form.

“Ummmm…” Green said, wide-eyed.

“What was that?” Red asked nervously.

Neon J tried rewinding the footage. But no matter what, there was static blocking out whatever occured.

“Okay, that’s trippy.” said Yellow.

“What are our lives now? A bad creepypasta?!” Blue exclaimed.

Neon J took a deep breath to try and get his mind in order. It looked like the security cameras would provide no answers.

“This isn’t completely pointless, though.” Green pointed out. “If we look at the timestamps from before and after the static, we know that whatever happened to us was between 1:09 and 1:22.”

“Yeah, but who cares when it happened? We need to know _what_ happened!” an agitated Red said.

It wasn’t much, but it was a clue. Neon J scribbled down the times on a nearby sticky note, before turning around to address his troops.

“Right troops, listen up. It’s clear we’re not going to get any answers on what happened to us for now. So, for the time being, we need to treat this situation like a permanent one. And we need to tread carefully. Right now, our priority should be getting used to our new bodies. I’m ordering a complete shutdown on our NSR activities. We’re not leaving the mansion until we decide on a course of action. And we’re going quiet on social media.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, sir? Our fans are gonna notice pretty quickly that something’s up.” White said.

“We don’t have much of a choice. Biding our time to figure something out is the best way to keep this situation under control. I don’t like it either, but…”

For a few moments, nobody said anything as they digested the idea. Then Yellow spoke up. “Um, Dad? Something’s wrong with me.”

“What?” Neon J said in alarm.

“I’ve got this weird… hollow feeling right around here.” He patted his stomach.

“Yeah, I’ve got that too.” added Green.

“Oh. You’re hungry.”

Now that Neon J said it, he realized his own stomach was growling too. There was absolutely no food in the mansion, except for half a bag of popcorn leftover from 1010’s recent house party.

“We’ll have to order takeout. Any suggestions?”

“Well, I heard pizza’s really good.” White said.

“Yes! Absolutely! Pizza!” Yellow exclaimed. Blue, Red, and Green nodded in agreement.

Neon J hadn’t had to do meal planning in a long, long time, but he figured it out. He ordered three large pizzas from a nearby parlor, one pepperoni, one ham and pineapple, and one extra cheese. 

When he’d made the order, Green asked “How are we gonna get the pizzas from the guy without him seeing us?”

This stumped them for a bit, until White remembered the security bots, and thankfully those hadn’t been turned into humans too.

Half an hour later, the pizza guy pulled up outside of Barraca Mansion’s gates, and one of the security bots went out to get it. The pizza guy looked a bit disappointed he didn’t actually get to meet 1010.

“Ohmygodohmygod it smells so _good!_ ” Yellow was practically drooling with anticipation.

The pizza was set out on plates, and everyone got ready to dig in.

“Now remember, troops. Make sure to chew and swallow- _what did I **just** say, Red?!” _

Just as Neon J was preparing to do the Heimlich Maneuver on Red, he managed to cough up the huge bite of pizza he swallowed whole.

“Ugghh… point taken.” Red coughed.

With that ordeal out of the way, 1010 happily chowed down on their pizza.

“Holy crap, it tastes so much better than I ever imagined!” Yellow said around a mouthful of pizza.

“This… is so good…” Blue said.

“Yeah, I have a favorite food now.” Green said.

Neon J took a bite of his pizza slice.

It wasn’t even that good of pizza. It was too greasy and the pepperoni was slightly overcooked and there was too much sauce and it was just cold enough to be gross but not cold enough to justify putting it in the microwave.

It was the first thing Neon J had tasted in over twenty-five years.

“Um, are you okay, Dad?” White asked. “You, uh…”

Neon J hadn’t even noticed the tears trickling from his eyes until then. 

“I’m fine.” He answered.

The six of them ate their pizza in silence.


	3. An Apple A Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1010 have brushes with indigestion, illness, and injury. Neon J has a worrying realization.

Despite not leaving Barracca Mansion in the two days that followed, they were still an incredibly eventful couple of days. 

1010 were having a tough time getting used to their new human bodies, and all that they entailed. Every five minutes, one of them discovered something new. Some of the bigger incidents over the last two days included:

Green had a dream for the first time in his whole existence. He didn’t react well.

Blue had asked if he could use the pool. Neon J said okay, as he knew how to swim. It wasn’t until Blue was in the pool that Neon J realized Blue probably didn’t remember that he couldn’t breathe underwater. Thankfully, he pulled him out in time.

Yellow ate _all_ of the pizza leftovers in one sitting. Then he threw up and thought he was dying.

White stubbed his toe and thought it was broken.

Yellow also ate way too many waffles because he thought they tasted good. He didn’t throw up this time, but he did get a nasty case of indigestion.

Red burned himself because he reached into the oven to pull out a pan with his bare hands.

Lastly, in yet another showing of truly poor impulse control when it came to his newfound ability to eat, Yellow had to be stopped from drinking antifreeze. Neon J had to sit everyone down and have a talk about what the words “inedible” and “poisonous” meant.

On Neon J’s part, he was adjusting better than his sons, but it still was far from easy, especially on top of everything he had to deal with, like making sure 1010 didn’t get themselves killed, figuring out a budget for all the amenities they would now need, getting food, and trying desperately to decide what to do next. 

On the third morning after their transformation, Neon J walked into the kitchen to find Green sitting at the table, head down.

“Good morning.” he said curiously.

“Dad… something is seriously wrong with me...” groaned Green.

Neon J had heard similar phrases so many times over the last three days it didn’t phase him anymore. “What is it?”

“I feel awful. I’m so cold and my head is pounding...”

Green wasn’t one to exaggerate, so it must be serious. “Look at me for a second.” Neon J told him.

Green obliged, and one look at his flushed cheeks and glassy eyes told Neon J what was wrong with him. A hand on his forehead confirmed it.

“You’ve got a fever, soldier.” Neon J said.

“What? That can’t be right. I asked White and he said that a fever makes you hot, not cold.”

“No, feeling cold is a sign of fever, paradoxically enough. Go back to bed, I’ll get you some medicine.”

“Thanks…” Green shuffled off to his room, while Neon J took a detour to his medicine cabinet.

It wasn’t until he got there that a horrible question occurred to Neon J.

_“If 1010 have only been humans for a few days, do they have effective immune systems? Because if not, then…”_

Silently panicking, he gave Green his medicine, and then rushed off to call the doctor.

* * *

Several hours later, everyone was loaded into the most inconspicuous car they owned, and driving off to the doctors office.

“Why are we wearing face masks?” Red asked.

“As a disguise. And so Green doesn’t get anyone else sick.” Neon J answered.

“There’s no way anyone’s gonna recognize us.” Blue said.

“I’m not taking any chances, troops.” 

Entering the office, 1010 flopped down on the waiting room chairs while Neon J went to check in.

“Geez, this place smells awful.” muttered Red.

“I wouldn’t know, my nose is stuffed up so bad.” Green said thickly.

“Oh yeah, that’s gotta suck. How’re you feeling?” Blue asked.

“Better, kinda. I’m not super cold anymore, but I still feel like crap.”

“Blech. I don’t envy you at all.”

At that moment, the only other person in the waiting room, who was a young man, looked at them and said curiously “You know, you guys look a lot like 1010.”

Everyone was tongue-tied in shock for a moment before White managed to say “Yeah, we get that a lot…”

“Because we’re, uh, 1010 cosplayers!” Yellow added quickly.

“Wow, really?” The guy said, impressed. “Dang, that sounds fun. What’s it like?”

“Oh, y’know. Singing, dancing…” Blue said.

“Wow. I bet you guys know every song.”

“We sure do.” White said.

“That’s dedication. I wish I had the time to learn all that.” The guy said wistfully. “I guess you’re huge fans then, right.”

“Absolutely!” Yellow said, his mask hiding his nervous grin.

“I guess you guys noticed they’ve gone totally silent on Instagram and all that, then.” The guy’s face fell a bit. “Kinda worrying they didn’t even give a reason.”

“...Oh, I’m sure they’re fine. I bet they’re just working on something cool they’ll unveil when they’re ready.” White said.

“Maybe you’re right.” The guy said.

“Garry Jerjich?” A waiting doctor called.

“Oh, that’s me!” The guy got up and said to 1010, “I hope you guys have a good day!”

“You too!” Yellow called after him as he walked off. When he disappeared through the door, 1010 breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“I think that was the best lie you’ve ever come up with.” Red said to Yellow.

“Hm. I try.” Yellow smiled.

Green looked worried. “But you heard what he said, right? People are starting to notice something’s wrong. We need to-”

“Troops! It’s our turn!” Neon J called.

Only a few minutes after they got into the exam room, Neon J’s regular doctor, a tall woman with deep orange skin and violet hair and eyes walked in. “Hello-”

She froze when she saw the six of them. “...Oh my. I didn’t think you were telling the truth.”

“You’re not alone, Dr Najima. I’m having trouble accepting it as the truth myself.” Neon J said wearily.

“I assume the five of you are 1010?”

“Yep. Now with skin and organs and all that.” Blue said.

Dr Najima took a deep breath and got down to business. “So, what exactly brings you in today?”

“A lot of things. First of all, have you ever heard of anything like this ever happening?” Neon J asked.

“No, never.”

“I thought so. Second, I need the boys immune systems checked.”

“Our what now?” Red said confusedly.

“The stuff in our blood that keeps us from getting sick.” Blue explained.

“Obviously mine isn’t working well...” Green said wryly.

“I’ll send you to the blood lab after this, top priority.” Dr Najima wrote something down. “And then I’ll do a general check-up on all of you, if that’s alright.”

“Whoa, I’ve never had a check-up before!” Yellow said excitedly. “Are you gonna use the stethoscope?”

“Yes.”

_“Cool.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uggggh this chapter was a bitch and a half to write. I was going to finish the doctor's office scene in this one, but I could feel another bout of writers block coming on and just decided to post what I had. I'll finish it up next chapter (which'll come out quicker, I swear)


	4. Trypanophobia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1010 have their first experience with needles. Tatiana finally discovers what's going on.

“So is this serious?” Green asked worriedly.

“No, no. It’s just a virus. Get plenty of rest and drink lots of liquids and you’ll be back to normal soon.” The doctor answered.

Green didn’t look totally convinced.

“Last night, I was in bed, and suddenly my entire body just twitched randomly. Is that normal?” White asked.

“That is normal, yes. It’s called a hypnic jerk, and it occurs when your body is falling asleep.” Dr Najima said patiently.

Yellow raised his hand. “How fast will drinking antifreeze kill a person?” 

“...Within twenty-four hours, I believe. Why?” Dr Najima looked slightly nervous for what the reason could be.

Red butted in before Yellow could continue. “Why do we have to eat all the goddamn time?! It’s so annoying!”

“Watch your language, soldier.” Neon J warned.

Dr Najima had been checking out 1010 as well as answering their various questions for over forty-five minutes now. And they had a lot.

“So, if that’s all for today…” Dr Najima looked at Neon J, who stood up from his chair.

“I think we’re done here, troops. We’ll swing by the blood lab on the way out.”

Dr Najima handed him two pieces of paper. “For the blood lab. I also thought you’d like a DNA test done.”

“Good thinking!” Neon J pocketed the papers. “Troops, let’s go. Thank you for your time, Doctor.”

Dr Najima waved goodbye as they left the room, and wondered what exactly was going down in Vinyl City these days.

* * *

“So, this is the mystical blood lab I’ve heard so much about.” Blue remarked as they entered the room.

A nurse greeted them. “Hello. Have any of you gotten blood drawn before?” He asked.

“These five haven’t.” Neon J answered. 

“Well, it’s quick and easy! Just sit down on this chair, roll up your sleeve, and I’ll do the rest.”

“Does it hurt?” Yellow asked.

“It’s going to pinch a bit, but it only lasts a second.” the nurse said reassuringly. “Who’s going first?”

None of 1010 looked particularly enthused, but after a moment White stepped up. “I’ll do it.”

He sat down obediently, and the nurse started cleaning his arm. “Okay, I’m going to put the needle in now.” she said.

The rest of 1010 watched with mixed interest and revulsion as the needle entered White’s vein. He winced.

“How does it feel?” Red asked.

“It’s not… comfy.” White answered, looking paler by the second. He then made the mistake of looking at the syringe embedded in his arm. “ Is-is that my _blood_ in it?!”

“Yep.” The nurse answered.

White’s eyes immediately rolled back in his head.

“Oh crap!” The nurse and Neon J quickly moved to steady him.

White came to a few seconds later. “What just happened?”

“You fainted.” Neon J said worriedly.

“I did?” White blinked. “Ah, that’s embarrassing…”

“It happens.” The nurse said reassuringly. “Go to the waiting room and sit down. The receptionist will get you a glass of water.”

White left and the nurse looked at the rest of 1010. “Who wants to go next?”

* * *

The rest of the blood drawings could have gone worse, Neon J reflected on the way home. At least no one else fainted.

Blue panicked halfway through his and had to be physically held down, Red sat through it but shook and whimpered the whole time like a terrified puppy, and Green was feeling sick again and just wanted to get it over with so he could go back to bed. Yellow actually liked it, watching the whole procedure with excitement.

Now they were all sitting quietly in the back seat. White, Blue, and Red were still shaken up, Yellow was his usual self, and poor Green looked absolutely miserable. 

“Troops, I have a plan.” They looked up.

“When we get back home, I’m calling Tatiana. It’s time she knew about this.” Neon J said.

“Do _we_ have to be on the call?” Green groaned.

“No. You’ve earned a rest.”

“Good…” Green sank back in his seat and closed his eyes wearily.

“What are you gonna say to her? What if she doesn’t believe you?” Yellow asked.

“I’ll Facetime her if she doubts me. And she probably will, not that I blame her.” Neon J sighed. “Once she believes me… I don’t know. I’ll have to discuss what our next step could be with her.”

They got back to Barracca Mansion, and 1010 disappeared to their own devices. Neon J headed to his workshop to call Tatiana.

This wouldn’t be an easy conversation, but it was an overdue one. Neon J dialed Tatiana’s number and waited.

_“Hello, Tatiana Qwartz speaking.”_ Tatiana’s voice came through the speakerphone.

“Hello Tatiana. This is Neon J.”

_“Neon J? Your timing is perfect, I was about to call you. What is happening? Nobody’s heard from your group in days. Is everything alright?”_ Tatiana sounded genuinely worried.

“Everything’s, well… I wouldn’t say alright, but we’ve gotten it mostly under control.” Neon J answered.

_“What’s going on?”_

“It would be easier just to show you.” Neon J didn’t have the words in him to come up with an explanation. 

Tatiana accepted his Facetime request, and she appeared on his phone screen. When she saw him, she didn’t say anything. Just stared.

_“Neon J, what-”_

“Tatiana, I have no idea how this happened.”

_“You regrew your limbs and head?”_ Tatiana exclaimed incredulously.

“Something like that - but it’s not just me. 1010 have all turned into humans.”

Tatiana needed a few seconds to digest that. _“H-how did this happen?”_

“We don’t know. All we know is that it happened in the night on Thursday.”

Tatiana thought for a moment. _“Okay. Tell me everything.”_

Neon J told her of all the events of the last three days.

“-I know I should have contacted you before now, but the boys have been taking up most of my time.” He finished.

_“It’s quite alright Neon J, I understand this must be difficult for all six of you.”_ Tatiana reassured him. 

“But now I don’t know what the next step should be.” sighed Neon J.

_“I think the next step is calling an emergency meeting. I’m completely booked today, so why don’t we hold it tomorrow evening?”_

“Good idea. It’s high time we figured out how to get our NSR duties back on track.”

_“That, and it’s possible one of the other artists will have an idea as to how this happened.”_

“True. I think that’s everything, then.”

_“Are you sure you’re alright in the Metro Division? I can send anything you need.”_

“We’ll be fine, Tatiana. Thank you for the offer.”

_“Give 1010 my regards. Goodbye, Neon J.”_

“Goodbye. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Tatiana hung up, and Neon J was left with his thoughts.


	5. An Enlightening Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally time for the other NSR stars to know about Neon J and 1010's situation...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of this fic, but it's certainly not the end of this series. I don't know when the next installment will come, my life is about to get a lot busier and I want to avoid getting burned out on writing. That said, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'll try not to keep you waiting too long!

The usual meeting room was on one of the top floors of the NSR tower. The tall windows showed a sprawling view of Vinyl City’s skyline. Normally, 1010 would’ve looked at the lights of the city spread across the horizon, but this time, their minds were elsewhere. 

When 1010 and Neon J entered the meeting room, Tatiana was already sitting at the head of the table, Eve at her right-hand spot, while Yinu and her mother Kassia were in their usual spots.

“Good. You’re here.” Tatiana looked slightly harrowed.

“Huh?” Yinu looked up and her brow furled in confusion. “Who the heck are you guys?”

“Yinu, don’t be rude.” Kassia chided.

“It’s us! 1010!” Yellow blurted out.

Eve raised an eyebrow. “Nice try. Who are you and how did you get past security?”

“It actually is us. I know it’s hard to believe, but we can explain.” White said.

Eve was about to say something else, but Tatiana spoke up. “They’re telling the truth. I spoke to Neon J yesterday and he explained the situation.”

“Oh yeah?” Yinu challenged. “If you guys really are 1010, then what did you get me for my birthday?”

“A miniature piano that actually played music.” Neon J answered.

Yinu and Kassia’s shocked expressions were enough to convince Eve. “Wait… you are… how did this happen?!”

“We don’t know!” Red said. “We just woke up like this!”

“We’re open to suggestions on the cause, if anyone has any.” Blue added.

“So you guys were robots… and now you’re not?” Yinu asked.

“Basically, yeah.” Green said.

A smile spread across Yinu’s face. “Cool! Now I can do your hair, and make you cookies, and-”

“Slow down, darling.” Kassia said. Looking at 1010, she said “I don’t believe it… How are you getting used to it? It must be a huge adjustment.”

“It’s not easy.” White said. 

“Did you know that eating too much food makes you sick?” Yellow asked.

“I got sick anyway.” Green added.

“I almost drowned.” Blue said.

“I burned the sh- _crap_ out of my hand.” Red said, holding up his still-blistered palms.

“I fainted when I got blood drawn.” White admitted.

Everyone looked at Neon J, who shrugged. “I’m mostly annoyed that I can’t control the mansion with my internal systems.”

“Yellow almost drank antifreeze.” Blue said smugly.

“Yeah, well, Blue screamed like a baby when he had to get a needle.” Yellow retorted. “And Red cried.”

“Shut up! I’m not the one who ate two whole pizzas for breakfast!” snapped Red. “And you also ate a live cricket! I saw you!”

“Eww!” screeched Yinu.

“Hey! It _wasn’t_ alive, jerk! I made sure of that!”

“How did it taste?” Green wanted to know.

“Crunchy, mostly.”

They were interrupted by the meeting room doors opening. Dodo and Sofa of Team Sayu entered, looking nervous. 

“Umm, hey everyone, there’s something we need to-” Sofa stopped when he saw 1010 and Neon J. “What the...?”

“Hey, Sofa!” Yellow said cheerily. “Guess what? We’ve been inexplicably turned into humans! Surprise!”

“That happened to you too?!” Dodo exclaimed.

Neon J’s head shot up. “What do you mean, _you too?!_ ”

Before Sofa or Dodo could answer, the doors burst open, and a newcomer with short white hair, light pink skin, and blue heart-shaped eyes ran in. Tila and Remi rushed in behind her, unable to stop her.

“Hello friends! I’m Sayu! It’s so nice to finally meet you all, ehek!” The girl said, striking a cute pose.

Everyone’s jaws were on the floor.

“Yeah, um, we were gonna break the news slowly, but uh…” Sofa said.

“Sh-she got away from us. Sorry.” Tila whispered.

Sayu continued unabashed. “Now that I’m real, we can become true friends! We can have slumber parties and movie marathons and swim in the ocean! It doesn’t matter that I don’t have a tail anymore, Dodo promised to teach me to swim!”

Ten pairs of shocked eyes turned to Team Sayu.

“Yeah, so Sayu kinda… turned into a real person. We have no clue how, it just happened.” Sofa summed up the situation.

“When? What night did this happen?” Neon J demanded.

“We came in on Thursday and she was just like that.” Remi answered.

“Did your security cams capture it?”

“No. They got all staticky and when it cleared up it was too late.”

“That’s what happened to us!” Green exclaimed.

“So, this is a widespread occurrence?” Tatiana mused.

Once again, the doors opened, and DJ Subatomic Supernova strode in. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the states of his colleagues.

“DJ Subatomic, I’m glad to see you.” Neon J said. “Some strange things have happened, and you’re the most likely to know about them.”

“...I see.” muttered the DJ. 

DJ Subatomic set down the briefcase he was carrying, and reached up to his globe-shaped head. He pulled it off, revealing a head of curly light-blue hair, a round face with dark blue skin and white star-shaped freckles dotting it, and serious orange eyes.

“Holy crap, you had a head under there this whole time?!” Yellow blurted out.

“No, I didn’t.” The DJ said pointedly. “Revealing this change was the main reason I came here, but…”

His eyes travelled across the room, lingering on the newly human 1010, Neon J, and Sayu.

“...It seems we have far more to discuss.”

**_TO BE CONTINUED..._ **


End file.
